Monday, May 14, 2007

The Spurs game with Phoenix is supposed to start in a few minutes and I won't be able to watch.

We have three televisions, two digital video recorders, at least one working VCR, a small satellite dish, and even cable - albeit just for Internet access.

My problem is that the TV show "24" is on now...and so is "Heroes." I can't really follow "Heroes." I enjoy watching it, but I haven't quite kept up with all the players. Amy however has been in from the start, so that's recording on DVR#1. I have an addiction to "24," admittedly which has now morphed into what would be a great drinking game if I drank like I did years ago, since Amy and I try to keep track of how many times the characters say, "I'll get back to you" or "Nukes" or any number of phrases, plus various recurring thematic elements, not the least of which is trying to guess which character will suddenly have a crazy relative show up who is pushed by destiny - or bad writing - into controlling the fate of all mankind.

In any case, both shows are recording and among the many problems with our satellite service is that if you are recording two shows on your two DVR system you can't watch anything but one of those shows or something you recorded previously. It's complicated, but essentially there is only one actual DVR device, shared by all the televisions in the house.

So, I must wait until 9 p.m. to start watching the game. That's really fine, I figure the game won't tip off until 8:45, and then I have this wild idea that I might catch the first few minutes of the game via a technology that only people really in the know can utilize properly....yeah, I'll turn on the radio.

This game should be really intriguing. There's been incessant whining by both Suns and Spurs fans and some Suns players/coaches about the officiating and in particular allegations that Bruce Bowen, one of the nicest, most Christian, decent human beings on earth is "dirty." Bowen plays tough defense and over the years I've heard a lot of players complain...usually when they lose. Most true "star" players don't grouse, Kobe Bryant - not exactly Mr. Clean himself - has never taken the media bait on Bowen, but Amare Stoudamire and the Phoenix head coach have been beating the drum almost constantly during this series. That's put Bowen under the microscope and the other night when his knee connected to the groin of the Sun's Steve Nash, the frenzy went up a notch. Nash, being a true star, didn't say a word...of course for a while he couldn't...but even afterwards he didn't say anything negative. Instead he encouraged his team to play harder.

Still if you go to YouTube and look for Bruce Bowen, you'll see numerous people have spent a lot of time compiling images they claim prove Bowen plays "dirty."

Of course if you look around on YouTube you can find all sorts of things:

Oddly enough the Suns and Spurs fans have similar mantras. In Phoenix you'll hear fans screaming "Go Suns Go!" In San Antonio, we've come up with the clever catch phrase of "Go Spurs Go!"

Perhaps for this series we should change it to something both sides could cheer.

I apologize for this in advance...avert your eyes if you hate bad puns and slightly bawdy language, but I can't get the phrase out of my head: